Chile forest fires not seen under control for week
Date: 11-Feb-02
Country: CHILE
Author: Patrick Nixon
The fires that have consumed about 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares) of native forest in the Andean foothills about 500 miles (804 kms) south of Santiago, have forced the evacuation of tourists and nearby villages.
No injuries have been reported.
The fires have been burning for a week in three state-protected nature reserves, favorite destinations for campers and tourists during Chile's top vacation month of February.
Officials said that unlike most forest fires, which are caused by human negligence, the latest fires may have been sparked by dry lightning storms in the mountains.
Warm dry winds and temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere summer reaching 93 degrees F (34 degrees Celsius) caused the fires to spread and hindered efforts to extinguish them, Sergio Mendoza, the forestry commission's fire chief, told Reuters.
"The difficult geographical conditions and abundance of dry wood has worsened the fire," he added.
Conditions improved last week and if they persist, the fires should be under control within five to seven days, Mendoza said.
"After that comes the most arduous task of sprinkling and cooling the hot earth to ensure the fires don't spark up again. That will take an extra 10 to 12 days."
Mendoza rejected criticism from environmental lobby groups that the $7.5 million annual budget allocated for fighting forest fires was insufficient.
"Every country allocates the amount of resources in accordance with the historic frequency with which fires occur. A fire of this size is unusual in Chile. With twice the amount of resources, I doubt we could have stopped it," he said.
The affected parks - the Malleco National Park, Tolguaca National Park and Conguillio National Park - are home to the araucaria, or monkey puzzle tree, and other hardwood species found only in Chile and considered very valuable, including lenga, coigue and rauli.
